Dr Carlos A. R. Sa de Melo from the Department of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA, visited SCL on 18 July 2011 and gave a seminar on:

"Quantum Phases of Dipolar Molecules"

Abstract:

We will discuss possible quantum phases of dipolar molecules for optical lattices and continuum systems in the two-dimensional regime. We will focus on bosonic molecules. For the optical lattice case, we will discuss a few low temperature phases that emerge out the dipolar superfluid. These phases include checkerboard supersolids, striped supersolids and collapsed. The emergence of a striped supersolid is particularly interesting because the anisotropy of the dipolar interaction can be controlled externally. In the case of dipolar bosons in continuum systems, we will discuss the finite temperature phase diagram of purely repulsive interactions and show that for large dipolar repulsions a dipolar Wigner crystal appears at low temperatures and melts at intermediate temperatures into a dipolar hexatic fluid, before becoming a normal dipolar fluid at higher temperatures. Intermediate supersolid phases are also possible, which at higher temperatures melt into in a hexatic superfluid. The experimental characterization of theses phases may be possible via Bragg scattering techniques.